1 week Ago
Speaker of the House Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, left, and Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, speak in the Louisiana House of Representatives on the opening day of a legislative special session, Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La. (Hilary Scheinuk / The Advocate, Pool) STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry speaks in the Louisiana House of Representatives on the opening day of a legislative special session, Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La. (Hilary Scheinuk / The Advocate, Pool) STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry greets members of the legislature in the Louisiana House of Representatives on the opening day of a legislative special session, Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La.
(Hilary Scheinuk / The Advocate, Pool) STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save After the Louisiana House spent the first half of a 20-day special session pushing forward critical components of Gov. Jeff Landry’s ambitious tax package, it’s now the Senate’s turn to vet the plan — at least most of it . The Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee, which handles tax legislation, met Sunday afternoon to begin that process in earnest and consider several bills.
Committee chair Sen. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge, said Sunday’s meeting was intended to hear public testimony, but changes to the legislation and committee votes would begin Monday. House Bill 1 and House Bill 2, which would lower individual income tax and corporate income tax rates respectively, were among the bills heard.
Those measures would also end dozens of tax breaks next June. The income tax reductions, along with the termination of the tax break programs, are intended to make Louisiana more competitive with its neighbors in the South that have lower income tax rates or don’t collect income tax at all, said Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, who is quarterbacking the tax plan for the House.
But the possibility of ending valuable business tax break programs continued to provoke backlash Sunday, especially from supporters of the film tax credit program. Recruited by movie industry trade group Film Louisiana, dozens of film industry workers attended the Sunday meeting donning bold, yellow “Film = Job” stickers, filling the committee room and at least one other overflow room on Sunday. Jason Waggenspack, Film Louisiana president, again went before lawmakers to pitch his view of the industry’s positive impact to the state and protest a tax plan that axes the Motion Picture Tax credit Program.
“There’s a lot of anxiety and a lot of interest” regarding both the film tax credit and historic tax credit programs, said Sen. Sam Jenkins. Jenkins, a Shreveport Democrat, represents the city where rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's film and television studio is located .
“I’m by no means trying to say that some of these credits have not spurred economic growth,” said Rep. Emerson. She added that if Louisiana sees new economic growth as a result of the proposed tax structure changes, the state could at that point consider incorporating tax break programs.
Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said her agency is in the process of defining the nature of Louisiana’s competitive advantage and “the priority sectors where we can see the most success” in the near- and medium-term. Those questions need answers before LED can put forward a new business incentive program, which is intended to replace the business tax credits that would sunset in June should the current version of the tax package pass. LED’s strategic plan should be complete by February, Bourgeois said.
Another familiar concern also surfaced Sunday. “I think the governor rightly asked you to look at these bills as a package,” said Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, a policy organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income families. Moller said Louisiana already has some of the highest sales tax rates and the lowest income tax rates.
“This package, of course, takes us even lower on the income tax, where we’re already low, and takes us higher on the sales tax, where we are already quite high.” Most all of the key elements of Landry’s tax plan cleared the House last week — save for a contested measure that would begin to levy sales taxes on dozens of consumer services that aren’t currently taxed. That legislation, House Bill 9, is currently languishing in the House , lacking the 70 votes needed to pass the lower chamber.
According to a legislative fiscal analysis , the sales taxes that would be levied through the measure could generate between $400 million and $500 million in annual state revenue. But Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, who is sponsoring House Bill 9, said Sunday evening that the House was informally considering a set of 19 draft amendments that would dramatically pare down the number of services to be taxed.
The shorter list of services would generate roughly $130 million a year, he said. On Sunday, the Senate tax committee also heard public testimony on several other bills. House Bill 10 would make a permanent 2% business utility tax and a 0.
4% sales tax, which is currently set at 0.45%. Both taxes are temporary and set to expire in June.
House Bill 8 would levy a sales tax on digital media like video and music streaming services, video games and e-books. At a state sales tax rate of 4.0%, the digital tax would raise about $40 million a year, according to a fiscal analysis.
House Bill 7 would ask voters to approve changes to parts of the tax code that are currently safe-guarded in the Constitution. House Bill 25 would make changes to oil and gas severance taxes..
